Saturday, October 29, 2016

He wanted a very seasoned block so he went to the junkyard and got his motor out of a school bus, thinking that the hot/cold cycles, the heat expansion and loads would make an engine more durable than a new block.

"My theory was if I got a block out of a truck or a heavy unit that had been hot and cold and pulled a lot of weight, that block would have already done everything it was ever going to do," he recalled in a 1996 interview. "So we were at the junkyard, and there sat a bus and it was a Chevrolet and it had what we wanted.

Rager just missed qualifying at the brickyard by one spot in 1979. He did make the Indy 500 field in 1980 with the 10th fastest qualifying time, at 186.374 mph, faster than veterans A.J. Foyt, Tom Sneva and Gordon Johncock, and by the 16th lap, he was leading the race

After starting as a rookie in 1935, and placing 16th, Horn never finished worse than fourth. In his next nine races from 1936-48, Horn was runner-up once, finished third four times and fourth four other times.

Including his 1935 rookie race, when a steering problem knocked him out after 145 laps, Horn finished 4,860 of a possible 5,000 miles, a 97.2 percent career average for his 10 races at Indy.

By comparison, the completion rates for current drivers who have driven at least 10 times at Indy are 84.8 percent for Al Unser Jr., 81.7 percent for Michael Andretti and Buddy Lazier, 74 percent for Scott Sharp and 70.2 percent for Eddie Cheever.

He is most famous for developing the 2 into 1 exhaust system,
first using disk brakes on bikes,
first using automotive 'mag' and aluminum rims on bikes
and being the first guy to run a primary belt drive on a Harley V Twin made by using belts from the 6-71 dragster blowers on his own machined pulleys in 1963.

He actually came up with a lot more than these few items and invented countless 'small' innovations for bikes that have become almost commonplace today.

And he was probably the first to make an aftermarket, narrow springer, from 3" to 36" longer than stock. Just like Meyer's Manx dune buggies, there was far more demand, and several companies went into business making similar but not as high quality.

Dick experimented, improved and then built Choppers so that other people could ride and enjoy having a properly modified bike and not some monstrosity built by a celebrity. He cared not for fame or fortune and sought out neither during his lifetime. He didn't run a shop that sold glitz and bling for inflated prices. He didn't rip people off for 'services' and basically he lived by the 'Golden Rule' of Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. Dick was into bikes for the pure joy and excitement of the 'Ride' and this is probably the real reason he became a legend. Somebody in the industry was once quoted as saying that Dick's 'Word' was better than any printed legal 'guarantee' offered by any manufacturer anywhere at anytime.

Ford was mighty proud of its new 428 CJ powerplant and commissioned this cutaway engine in early 1968. Now, keep in mind that this was done in the days before the invention of the CNC machine. Ford cut the heads and block using a basic band saw and common hand tools. The crankshaft, connecting rods, main caps, valves, and just about every nut and bolt on it were chrome plated. Flash and casting marks were ground off all the cast-iron pieces, including the heads, block, bellhousing, and water pump. The block and all the cast-iron pieces were then polished, and the cast-iron pieces were copper plated to seal their porosity. Any problem areas on the block that stood out were covered in plastic body filler and re-worked until they were smooth as glass.

The cutaway Cobra Jet engine debuted with the new 1968-1/2 Cobra Jet Mustang. While the car itself rotated on a turntable, the engine was placed to its left side, “running” courtesy of a 12-volt electric motor. The engine toured the country throughout 1968 and 1969. In 1970, the engine was upgraded with cutaway finned aluminum Cobra Jet valve covers.

In 1971 or 1972, the cutaway CJ was donated to the auto shop at Ponca City, Oklahoma’s Pioneer VO Tech and was used for a number of years in its auto shop classes to demonstrate the workings of an internal combustion engine. However, with the emergence of dual overhead cams, electronic ignitions, and fuel injection, the CJ was put in storage.

“That’s when I became involved with it,” says Ford collector and historian Rick Kirk of Ripley, Oklahoma. “It took 23 years of negotiating with the school before I was finally able to get my hands on this engine.

A couple guys asked me (heck, what do I know? I'm just a car guy! I dunno jack) and so today when Mario asked, I dig a little digging....

Go-Away GarageGone. Kaputt.Ixnaed. No more.Leave the kumpooter and go work in your garage.

Is what he wrote on his Facebook page, off to the side.

See, on Sept 10th he had an auction and sold off his shop, and lotsa stuff in it. Maybe everything.

And from the note, and the sign that says no texts, I'm guessing Mitch was really fed up with tech and people. Maybe I'm wrong, but he seems to have carried out his intent he wrote about on his blog

"The Go Away Garage is a real garage in Wichita Kansas. Mitch Willis started out building custom hot rods on West Street and now builds motorcycles at the joint on Commerce St., where the garage has been for more than a dozen years. When Willis needed privacy to devote to his projects, he’d put up a 4-foot-by-8-foot sign that said “Go Away." The name stuck. Thus the Go Away Garage.

A total unibody stiffening package for your 1966-70 Dodge / Plymouth B Body. Includes cnc machine cut Frame Connectors, a complete set of front & rear Torque Boxes, Inner fender Braces and a Lower Core support frame brace. This is a complete chassis stiffening package that will add an incredible amount of rigidity and structure to your B-Body unibody.

this is the $1050 kit, the same as the top, but with the mini tubs and rear spring relocation added

The concept behind EMAS is fairly simple. Instead of putting asphalt before the thresholds of runways, the area is covered with a stretch of thousands of brittle, concrete-like blocks meant to collapse when the weight of an aircraft’s landing gear bears down on them. The plane’s gear continues to ride through the blocks, dramatically slowing the aircraft’s speed in a very short distance. The technology is especially relevant for airports with short runways and limited overrun areas.